AOL?s New ‘Golden’ Business Model

Posted on Aug 15, 2006

America Online, the beleaguered Internet giant, has announced plans to dig for gold?seriously. The company recently won a lawsuit against a spammer who then skipped town, so it plans to search his parents? property for gold and platinum bars it believes to be buried there. Well, that?s one way to find new sources of revenue in the face of dwindling subscribership.

SF Gate:

AOL won a $12.8 million judgment last year in U.S. District Court in Virginia against Hawke but has been unable to contact Hawke to collect any of the money he was ordered to pay. AOL accused Hawke of violating federal and state anti-spam laws by sending unwanted e-mails to its subscribers and won its case in a default judgment against Hawke, who didn’t show up in court.

“I don’t care if they dig up the entire yard. They’re just going to make fools of themselves,” said Peggy Greenbaum, Hawke’s mother. “There’s absolutely no reason for them to think that Davis Hawke would be stupid enough to bury gold on our property. My son is long gone.”